God damnit.

"Um, where are we?"

I took the wrong Pokeball. Which means that not only do I have Chimchar's ball, and by extension Chimchar himself, but that Paul still has mine. Now I really hope there's no way for him to use it to retrieve me at a distance...

"Where's Paul?"

How did this even happen? Assuming my Pokeball was actually the scuffed up one on the far left of Paul's belt, why the hell was it so damaged?! That ball looked like it had been used and thrown into things way more often than the one that turned out to be Chimchar's, even though the only time it should have ever actually been used was on me!

"Why are you the only one here?"

Wait... are Pokeballs reusable in the anime? I vaguely recall it being implied during Paul's first appearance that it's common practice for him to catch a bunch of Pokemon, check their stats, and then release any or all of them if he doesn't think they're good enough. Doing that repeatedly would presumably be prohibitively expensive if he had to keep buying new Pokeballs, but if he was just using the same ones every time, because he almost never actually kept any Pokemon, then-

"Hey!"

I slide my hands down my face and crack open my left eye to see Chimchar standing all of a foot away from me, his expression one of both total confusion and rapidly increasing panic.

"I'm sorry for yelling, it's just- do you know what happened?" Chimchar frets. "Did- did Paul abandon us?!"

"...no. No he did not." I murmur.

Bizarrely, that actually seems to calm Chimchar somewhat, some of the alarm fading from his stance.

"He didn't...?" Chimchar breathes. "Phew... where is he then?"

Slowly exhaling, I turn to fully face the young Pokemon that I've apparently yoinked completely out of his canon position, despite having explicitly intended not to do so. God, I'd better hope the universe can somehow compensate if he never ends up with Ash now, because if Chimchar played even a remotely critical role in any of the more serious events of this season or its movies, then the world, if not universe, may be utterly screwed.

"About an eight or so hour walk back that way." I reply, gesturing with my head. "Last I checked, at least. No idea if he's moved by now or not."

Chimchar just looks befuddled by that answer for a moment, before his eyes abruptly widen in realization.

"Wait, you- you mean you ran away?!"

"Yep," I confirm, "and apparently, I brought you along with me."

Chimchar stills.

"You... brought me with you?" he repeats.

"Not intentionally, but yeah." I say, crossing my arms. "I thought I was taking my own Pokeball, but evidently I grabbed yours instead. You're welcome, I guess."

To my surprise, the relative relief I'd expected from Chimchar fails to manifest, and his expression instead suddenly twists in anger.

"What do you mean 'you're welcome'?!" he cries. "This is bad! I have to get back to Paul!"

I blink. Wait, he... wants to go back?

"Why, exactly?" I ask, genuinely unsure what the rationale is there.

"Because he's our trainer!" Chimchar replies like it's the most obvious thing in the world.

I snort. "He's certainly not my trainer, and I don't really see why you'd want him as yours."

Chimchar balls his hands into fists, though his face begins to fall even as he does so.

"Because- because Paul is going to make me stronger." he says, his voice quickly losing strength. "After all, I'm..."

His next words are spoken so low as to barely be audible, even as close as I currently am to him.

"I'm too weak for anyone else to want me..."

...oh wow.

"Did Paul seriously say that to you." I ask flatly, the dampened flames of my anger with the purple-haired jerk rapidly beginning to rekindle themselves.

Chimchar flinches back from me, rapidly shaking his head from side to side. "No, it's- he didn't! I just- I can't-!"

Realizing that I must have just activated Intimidate again by accident, I turn away for a moment, take a deep breath, and try to calm myself. I do not need that right now... jeez, this poor kid. I had a feeling he didn't believe his own words last night, but I didn't realize that his self-esteem was quite this bad. Just how little does he have to think of himself to seriously believe what he just said?

Managing to untense enough to deactivate Intimidate — I think I actually "feel" the ability turn off this time — I turn back to Chimchar.

"Look," I say, doing my best to keep my voice even, "I'm sorry for taking you away from Paul, even if only unintentionally. However, if you're truly set on having a trainer, I'd highly suggest finding someone other than him to fill that role anyways."

"H-huh?" Chimchar stutters. "I can't... I told you, I'm-"

"Weak, yeah, I heard you." I interrupt. "Except you're not. You're really, really not."

Honestly, I kind of feel like I'm working against my own interests by trying to convince Chimchar of this, but much like last night, I just can't find it in myself to say nothing either. Besides, while I suppose Chimchar returning to Paul could potentially get canon back on track, I'd highly doubt it at this point — Paul's presumed reaction to Chimchar disappearing has most likely already altered things too much for future events involving either of them to play out exactly the same way I know, so I might as well just speak my mind.

"Maybe you just don't have anyone to really compare Paul to, but I have absolutely no doubt that there are many, many trainers out there that wouldn't think that you're weak in the slightest." I continue. "People who would probably value you a lot more than the guy who was threatening to withhold food from you last night because you didn't win a couple of battles fast enough for his liking."

"He didn't actually do that though!" Chimchar objects.

"The threat of it is bad enough on its own." I rebut. "Kind trainers don't do that. Normal trainers don't do that."

Even without having directly interacted with any other trainers, or even any other humans in this world as of yet other than Paul, I feel pretty safe in saying that much.

"Paul is an angry and unpleasant person who treats his Pokemon like tools." I summarize, holding up a hand to forestall Chimchar's immediate protests. "If you can name ONE time that he's complimented or encouraged you in a fashion that wasn't either derisive or belittling in some way, I'll take that back... but I bet you can't."

I was kind of going out on a limb there, but from the hint of doubt that flashes across Chimchar's face, I can tell that I was right. Unfortunately, that doubt remain there for barely a second before disappearing, replaced by something I can only describe as "determined resignation".

"...you're right. I can't." Chimchar quietly admits, looking down at the ground. "But it doesn't matter. I still need to go back."

I close my eyes and shake my head. Well, I tried — as sorry as I feel for Chimchar, I can't help someone who clearly doesn't want to be helped, and it's not like I can force him to do anything.

"Well, head back along the path in that direction then." I say, pointing back the way I came. "Or just wait around in the middle of the Route I guess, and if Paul manages to find his way back to it, he'll eventually find you too."

Chimchar glances anxiously down the seemingly endless dirt path.

"I guess..." he concedes after a moment, turning back to me. "What about you though?"

"Unlike you, I do not want to go back to Paul." I reply. "As I would assume is obvious from the fact that I ran off to begin with. Him managing to catch me doesn't make me beholden to him, and if I have my way, I will never have to see nor interact with him ever again."

Admittedly, it does now occur to me that I'd probably have been able to find Ash and company pretty easily if I'd just stayed with Paul, who's pretty much bound to encounter the group again some time down the road, but that ship has already long since sailed at this point. It wouldn't have been a certain thing anyways — even assuming I could have continued putting up with Paul that long, I'm pretty sure he also switches out his Pokemon a lot more than Ash ever did, and there would have been no guarantee he'd ever let me out while in front of the group, let alone let me "defect" to them. Traveling speed aside, this is still vastly preferable.

"You're really just... leaving, then?" Chimchar asks in a strangely sad tone.

"I already left." I correct. "Your choices are your own, so if you really want to go back to Paul, you can, or can at least try. My choices are also my own however, so if you plan on doing that, then no, I will definitely not be going back with you."

Chimchar lowers his head again, looking almost hurt to hear that. Not sure why he seems so disappointed. Maybe it's just because I was the only one who was even remotely nice to him, which again begs the question why he seems to think that going back to Paul is worth doing in the first place.

"You're sure that Paul will come this way...?" Chimchar asks, turning back to the path.

"No idea." I answer truthfully. "Maybe? I'm pretty sure this Route is the most common way to get to Jubilife City, which I assume is where he was going, but considering how long it took me to get here from where we were, I doubt Paul was actually trying to use it. So I suppose he might end up going some other way entirely."

If I'm lucky, maybe even in the exact opposite direction.

"What?!" Chimchar cries, rounding on me once more. "I can't do that then! What if he never comes? What if I never find him again?!"

It's all I can do not to roll my eyes — the way Chimchar makes it sound, you'd think never reuniting with Paul would mean the end of the world. Which, I suppose it actually could, in a roundabout sort of way, but it's not like he knows that. I've never met anyone so utterly determined to place themselves right back into a terrible situation they already got out of.

"Fine," I say, getting rather frustrated, "then in that case... I don't know, head to Jubilife City like I'm doing and hang around the local Pokemon Center until Paul shows up?"

"Head to- wait, you're going to the human city?" Chimchar says, tilting his head at me. "If you dislike Paul so much, why are you going where he's going anyways?"

"Personal reasons." I brush off, not wanting to get into it. "In any event, Paul will presumably have to visit the place once he gets there, if just to heal up Elekid and Murkrow, and once he arrives, you should be perfectly free to join right back up with him. In fact..."

I walk over and pick Chimchar's fallen Pokeball back up from the grass, then hold it out for him to see. "Since you have this, the nurses might even recognize you as a lost trainer's Pokemon, and just transfer you to wherever Paul's other Pokemon are kept so he can pick you up later."

Can't say I remember exactly where that is — I think Paul had some sort of ranch he used, kind of like Professor Oak's? — but I suppose it doesn't really matter so long as I don't also end up there.

"Sound like a better plan to you?" I finish.

Chimchar hesitates again, but eventually nods.

"Great, glad to hear." I say before he can do more than that, not wanting to discuss this honestly kind of upsetting topic with him any longer. "Off you go then. Best of luck with that."

I turn away-

"Wait!"

I turn back. Chimchar is staring at me, last night's familiar nervousness plain to see on his face.

"What?" I ask.

"It's just, um..." he starts, his voice fluctuating in strength, "if we're going to the same place... can I come with you, for now?"

I blink back at him.

Huh. Didn't really think about that, but I guess it would make sense — no real reason for us to head to Jubilife separately if we're taking the same Route. Can't say I was exactly expecting a traveling companion, but it could be nice... plus, if I happen to find Ash before we find the Pokemon Center, I might be able to get the two together by just handing Chimchar over to him personally. Not sure how likely that would be to actually work, given how weirdly dedicated Chimchar presently seems to be to Paul, but I suppose I have to at least try to rerail this train.

"...sure." I finally answer. "Just don't expect me to jump back into Paul's arms along with you."

Or even let him know I'm around, for that matter.

Chimchar smiles widely, seeming oddly cheered by the idea of traveling with the only reason he's not presently where he wants to be to begin with. Don't think I quite understand that, but it's not like I want him angry at me, so I'm not going to question it either.

"I suppose I should ask if you want to travel by Pokeball or not?" I say, fiddling with the tiny orb still clutched in my claws. "I've been carrying you around for the past few hours without knowing, so I guess I can just keep doing that if you want."

"Ah... no, I'll stay out here I think." Chimchar replies, looking somewhat taken aback by the idea.

I shrug. "Fine by me."

I slip the shrunken Pokeball back into my fur, then look down at the berry-filled container sitting next to me. I wasn't finished eating, but truth be told, I don't think I'm really all that hungry anymore — guess I must still be pretty full from last night. That, or Sitrus berries are just incredibly filling for some reason, which I suppose could be possible. They're already basically miracle fruits, after all.

Deciding to pack things up and get back on the road, I lift the Pokedex off the ground, intending to return it to the container for storage. Chimchar startles slightly, evidently not having even noticed the device up until just now.

"Wait, isn't that Paul's?" he asks.

"It was." I idly reply, fiddling with the edge of the strange semi-circular attachment depressed into the right side of the device. What is this part for, anyways?

"You stole that from him too?"

"'Liberated' might be a better word for it in this case, but yes." I say. "Sorry, I needed it more than he did."

Still do, honestly, so I really hope Paul's Pokedex isn't so important to him that he'd try and hunt me down just to get it back. Although come to think of it, he might come after me to get Chimchar back as well, especially if he thinks I "stole" Chimchar on purpose rather than just having accidentally grabbed the wrong Pokeball. Meaning that by making that mistake, I may have unwittingly given Paul even more reason to take the exact course of action I don't want him to take. Lovely.

"I don't even really know what that thing does, but I still don't think you should have taken it..." Chimchar mutters.

I shrug. I'd defend myself further, but I doubt that it would change Chimchar's mind... since Paul apparently never told him what this machine is actually for though, perhaps I should make this a teaching moment.

"For future reference, this is called a Pokedex." I explain, opening up the device in question and navigating to the Status Analyzer option. "It has several different functions, perhaps most importantly a map of the local region, but its main purpose is to scan and display data on different Pokemon, like so."

I wave the Pokedex in Chimchar's general direction, and the device reacts immediately, an image of a Chimchar appearing on its top screen as a digitized female voice rings out from the speakers.

"Chimchar, the Chimp Pokémon. Chimchar easily climbs the sheerest of walls and lives on mountain tops. When it sleeps, its flames go out."

Chimchar jumps backwards a bit, while I just nod, having expected the brief audio blurb. Good to know that works as expected, even after its time spent in my maw.

"Make sense?" I ask.,

"I- maybe?" Chimchar says, though based on the uncertainty in his voice, I'm guessing the actual answer is a resounding "no".

"...eh, I'll tell you more about it later." I say, deciding to shelve the topic for now. "This isn't really the time to get into it."

"Right..." Chimchar agrees, his eyes now drifting to the berry container at my feet. "Those are the berries from last night?"

I groan internally, readying myself for another soft indictment of my actions. "Yes, and before you ask, the container is Paul's-"

"No, it's not that." Chimchar timidly interrupts. "It's just... could I have one, please?"

Oh, so he's just hungry.

Perhaps somewhat selfishly, I don't answer immediately, finding myself rather reluctant to give up any of my limited portable food and medical supplies. Still, I did remove Chimchar from his normal source of food, however unintentionally, so I probably owe him this much.

"Yeah, sure, help yourself." I say, trying not to sound annoyed.

Chimchar does so, stepping forward and extracting a Sitrus from the box before biting into it with relish. Meanwhile, I move to close and stow the Pokedex away again... only to once again find myself distracted upon realizing that the bottom screen now has text on it. Hmm, what's this say?

I look closer at tiny writing contained within the bright green text box. The top section is just the same short description of what a Chimchar is that the dex read aloud a minute ago, but below that, there are a few other pieces of information that seem to be specific to the Chimchar currently standing in front of me:

Sex: Male

Health: Good

Level: 20

Ability: Blaze

Known Moves: Scratch, Ember, Flame Wheel, Dig

I raise one of my nonexistent eyebrows. Huh, I guess levels are a thing in this world after all... though, they clearly don't work exactly the way they do in the games, or else Chimchar would have already evolved. Perhaps there's also something of a maturity aspect to that in this world, or other factors that affect it? Hard to really say, given just how fast and loose the show tended to play with the concept of evolutions — they mostly just happened whenever they seemed most dramatically appropriate.

Regardless, the last section is also pretty interesting to me. I'd forgotten that the Pokedex can scan a Pokemon's known moves... though to be honest, I probably should have remembered that sooner, since Paul clearly used that function on me at some point yesterday.

I frown. That reminds me... when Paul came over to harangue me about how pathetic my moves were after I lost to Murkrow yesterday evening, I'm pretty sure I remember him listing off Fake Tears alongside the rest of my attacks. Except, I don't know how to use Fake Tears... do I?

Curious, I make a brief attempt at forcing myself to cry — and a pair of large, almost globule-like tears nigh-instantly manifest at the corners of my eyes, quickly soaking through the fur beneath them and beginning to roll down the sides of my face. They're followed shortly thereafter by several more of their kind, which continue to rapidly bead and well up from my eyes practically of their own accord.

Startled, I stop trying to cry, and the flow of water ceases just as quickly as it started. Well, that was a little unexpected...

"Huh...?"

I look up at Chimchar, who's staring at me a shocked expression, presumably having noticed the remaining droplets of water still dribbling down my chin.

"Wait, what's wrong?!" Chimchar exclaims. "Why are you crying?!"

"It's nothing..." I murmur, wiping the rest of the water away.

Evidently I DO know Fake Tears after all. It didn't even require me to dip into my reservoir to use it — I guess crying at will is just something I can do now. Must have "learned" it during the encounter with the Ursaring... although, those tears were definitely real.

"I'm sorry I asked for a berry!" Chimchar continues to babble, holding out the half-eaten Sitrus to me. "Here, you can have the rest!"

"What- no, really, it's nothing." I say, shaking my head. "You're not at fault; don't worry about it."

I tilt my eyes down at him to show him the lack of new tears. "See? Already dried up."

"A-are you sure...?" Chimchar stutters.

"Yes, I'm sure." I reiterate. "In fact, if you see me crying again later, don't automatically assume that it means anything. I did that on purpose; it literally meant nothing."

Seriously, I appreciate the concern and all, especially since inspiring that sort of thing in others is pretty much exactly what Fake Tears is meant for, but it's really not needed right now.

Chimchar still seems unconvinced, continuing to stare at me and fidget in place. Not wanting to linger on this subject any longer, I decide to try and move things along.

"Look, let's just get going." I say, finally placing the Pokedex back inside the berry container and walking forward slightly to gesture down the road. "We've got a long, long trip ahead of us, so we should really-"

The ground around me abruptly turns dark, as though the night came back and fell in an instant. Then I hear something rushing through the air behind me, just before it slams directly into the back of my horns.

...couldn't even let me finish my damn sentence, huh?